When Waitresses Attack

The BBQ Pit
41

So it’s impossible to think that you’re putting, say, three 20s on the table, when in actuality you’re putting two 20s and a ten?

I’m assuming you never ran a cash register. Or, if you did, the total came out perfect every single day you ran it.

Look, it’s entirely possible the boss is a lying scumbag who believes servers shouldn’t get tipped, ever. The OP says that’s not the case, but let’s ignore that for the moment. It’s also entirely possible that a simple mistake was made.

Are you honestly saying it is physically impossible to make a mistake when calculating or leaving a tip?

Regardless, the waitress should not have run after the party, especially when they’ve left the restaurant and are walking through a train station. Attempting to justify that is just wrong.

42

As a former waitress, I think people who purposely don’t tip (unless the service sucks) are asswipes, since servers usually make something like $2.13/hour. They DEPEND on tips to live.

However, chasing someone down is just plain unprofessional. At my restaurant, it was specifically stated that hassling a customer about a tip was grounds for immediate dismissal, and I saw two people get fired that way. It’s not only rude, it’s bad for business. You can bet those people will never come back, and that they’ll tell all of their friends never to go there.

Yes, I’ve been stiffed, even when I gave exemplary service. Yes, it sucked, and I thought nasty things about the stiffers. But no, I did not chase them down and demand a tip, and would not have even if it had not been against the rules.

43

Great Lezlers. Whether his party stiffed her or forgot to tip her still isn’t at issue though…

Wring, I see some pretty close resemblances to panhandling…

Sam

44

Apology accepted Gawd

:rolleyes:

45

Look, lezlers, I apologize from the bottom of my heart for not reading the paragraph in question. I might have over reacted just a bit.

Sheesh.

Sam

46

Great Lezlers. Whether his party stiffed her or forgot to tip her still isn’t at issue though…

Wring, I see some pretty close resemblances to panhandling…

Sam

47

Thanks, that’s all I was asking. Overreact all you want, just own up to it when you’re called on it.

48

Where’d that double-post come from? :confused:

Sam

49

I was a little confused myself

50

Um, no, they don’t contradict one another at all. Maybe it’s your reading comprehension that needs some work.

Bolded statement no 1:

gave excellent service and gave no cause for dissatisfaction

This is simply a statement about the general competence and professionalism of the waitperson during the time in which the meal was served.
Bolded statement no. 2:

**inquiring as to whether there was anything wrong with the service. When the people said “no,” the waiter would then say “Oh, i’m sorry, i assumed that there must have been a problem because you neglected to leave a tip.” **

The implication that there might have been unsatisfactory service was simply used by the waiter as a way of being more polite in inquiring as to why there was no tip. The alternative was to say, “Hey, you cheap cunts, where’s my tip.” And, as i pointed out, the customers would invariably say “No, there was no problem.”

No contradiction at all.

Personally, i think any customer who “forgets” to tip deserves all the public embarrassment they can handle. Sure, it might not be good for business but, as others have pointed out, waitstaff have no interest in spending their time (and losing money) serving non-tippers. Don’t like it? Fine, change the system to one in which waitstaff are paid adequately, and tipping is abolished. I’d be quite happy to support such a change.

Note that none of this argument takes into consideration those who refuse to tip because of bad service. If you get really crappy service, then i have no problem with not leaving a tip. But, in my opinion, you should also complain and/or explain why no tip is being left. Simply “forgetting,” especially when you’re an American and have grown up with the tipping system your whole life, is inexcusable.

51

Like it or not, a tip is not a gift. It is payment for services rendered, and the people who are rendering the service depends 100% on said payment to pay their rent, feed, and clothe their children. Their employer depends on the patrons to pay these people’s salary. Even the government assumes for tax purposes that the server has been tipped. How does this equate to the exchange of Christmas gifts in a family, auntie em?

[/quote]
Uh, yeah, because right before the OP left the restaurant, the waitress handed him a bill for her serving duties, which the OP prompty crumpled up and threw in the trash. Can you really not understand the difference between an optional gratuity and a required bill?
[/quote]

No, that’s exactly what happened. By the OPs own admission, the waitress fulfilled her obligation to the table in a satisfactory manner, and that means that the patron was under the obligation to pay her for her troubles. When you sit down at a table in a restaurant in America, you are assumed to know the custom of tipping. If you don’t, you need to go to fucking McDonalds where the staff actually recives minimum wage and is taxed accordingly. Do you really not understand that tips are how these people make a living? Why is it OK to take the fruits of a waitress’ labor without paying for it, but it’s not OK to do the same for a lawyer or doctor or car wash attendant? If you walked out of a massage therapist’s office without paying for the massage, you’re damn straight they would chase you down the fucking street and ask you for their money. Would you expect anything else?

Look, I don’t like the tipping system either. But that’s the way it is, and it ain’t gonna change. Maybe the waitress was a little rude, but she had every right to confront the customers and ask them why she wasn’t paid. If she had given shitty serivce, then that was the customer’s chance to say “You sucked and we’re not paying you.” And then she looks bad. As it was, it seemed to have been an “accident” that was rectified.

Fuck off. Do the fucking job for a week and then we’ll fucking talk.

52

No. None of this is correct.

A patron visiting an eating establishment is obligated to pay the amount shown on the bill. Period. Anything above and beyond that is completely at the discretion of the patron. The patron is under absolutely no legal obligation to pay for anything other than the food.

Now, SHOULD a person tip? Of course. As you noted, tipping by patrons is the way a waitperson makes a living. But the waitperson has no legal claim on tip money until it is left for them. If tip money is not left, the waitperson cannot sue for “proper payment of services rendered,” as a masseuse or doctor could.

A tip is not a “gift;” it is a recognition of service rendered. As such, it is COMPLETELY voluntary and at the whim and discretion of the patron.

53

Thankfully, I have a whole host of skills I can fall back on instead of delivering food. When I didn’t have those skills, I went out and got them instead of being stuck in a job like waiting on tables and bitching about the tip system. I made sure that I would never get stuck being a waiter, because I know how bad it sucks and my one experience as a bus-boy at the age of 16(very first job) taught me all I needed to know about the foodservice industry.

So fuck you.

Sam

P.S.- the Watress STILL didn’t have any right to chase them down and beg for a tip. I’m guessing you’ve done the same thing before? Yes, yes definitely.

54

My point was that any waitperson who would run out the door after a tip is not providing good service.

Look you can put all the stupid quotes you want around the word, but the fact remains that forgetting to tip is hardly a physical impossibility. Have you ever forgotten to brush your teeth? Yes? BS! I don’t believe you! Tootbrushing is ingrained in American culture and you’ve been doing it every day since you were a kid! You couldn’t just forget! :rolleyes:

Some people tip good. Some people tip poorly. Some don’t tip at all. I’m not saying stiffing is right, but it’s excusable if accidental, and usually out in the end. When my wife waitressed at a Shoney’s, she’d normally bring home $10-12 dollars an hour, while the cooks in the back were making $5.15/hour. Yeah, some nights she didn’t do so well. Some nights she did great. That’s waitressing. If you don’t want to take that chance, get in the kitchen and grab a spatula.

See, that’s what you call “putting someone in a very awkward position.” The job of a server is to make customers feel comfortable, and walking up to a person and saying what essentially amounts to “One of us is an asshole. It’s either me or you, buddy. What do you have to say to that?” does not tend to make people feel that way.

55

assume all you want. The OP admitted seeing the boss put down “one bill”. now, given that this is the US, one bill for at least a 50$ tab (again OP admitted each person kicked in 10 for their tab plus 2 bucks for a tip) possabilities are:

$20 and under: seriously underpaid the tab.

$50 = paid exactly the tab and no tip,

$100= seriously overpaid the tab.

Gawd Don’t know of any generally accepted definition of pan handling that fits the scenario wherein one person chases down a group who admit that they were supposed to give her some money. (according to the OP). YMOV

56

You see it your way then.

Sam

57

Slight OT question-

Somewhere in the back of my head, I remember reading that some Asian countries have laws stating that you have to leave a tip; it’s not optional. Waitstaff works for their tips; they’re not paid by the restaurant. Is this correct? If so, is it possible that the waitress felt entitled, as that was her payment for services.

Yes, I realize this is in the US, but is it possible she is new here and not accustomed to US tipping customs? I know a girl who was here temporarily and blew a gasket her first day at work when she was stiffed on a tip. She wanted the police called until it was explained to her it’s not required here.

58

Pay attention:

I wouldn’t say chasing someone down outside is polite. Desperate, more like.

Weasel a tip? In our society, a “gratuity” is no longer any more gratuitous than a salary is saline. There may have been a time when tipping for service was considered an extra and unecessary “bonus,” but is increasingly in the remote past, along with the notion that a salt allotment was adequate compensation for military service. ‘Forgetting’ to tip for services rendered is as good as stealing. If you’re going to skip it, you had better be prepared to explain why you don’t feel the server deserves it. Like it or not, in the U.S. and Canada we have, by consensus, placed a value of $10 on the service for a $50 meal.

Be prepared to pony up or be vilified, or don’t eat out, or get your haircut, or let someone schlepp your luggage up to your hotel room, or do anything else for which tipping is expected.

59

Really? Is the tip included in the check there?

60

One time I went with a few friends to a Japanese resturant. We forgot to ask the cute asian waitress for seperate checks. When the bill arrived, it was something like $50 and I only had $6 in cash. Not enough to cover my portion. (I was planning on paying with my card.) So my friend put it all on his card and I put the $6 down as tip. $6 not being enough for tip, my friend put an extra $2 on his credit card.

Now the waitress only saw the $2 and she thought we were tipping her $2 for a $50 bill. She came back over to the table and with a sad-puppy dog look said “Excuse me. Was any part of my service unsatisfactory to you?” When we answered, surprised, that it was perfect, she asked about the tip and we pointed out the money on the table.

I thought it was a great way to handle it. If the people simply forget, they are reminded. If they didn’t like the service they can give you pointers on what you did wrong.

If I was the waitress, I would have gone after you, but I would have been much more polite and pretended as though I thought it was all my fault.